


Uneven Ground

by RighteousMaximus



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arranged Marriage, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 05:26:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4654032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RighteousMaximus/pseuds/RighteousMaximus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What would you do to save your country?  The next hit from hansonhorses.tumblr.com is here!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Uneven Ground

Thump, thump.

Heavy footfalls echoed in the ears of their owner as they ran through the dark woods. The moon was high in the night sky, showing the white haired girl the way towards her home. Her heart raced as she pushed on. Her legs were screaming at her, the muscles sore from the hours that she had been running. Her dark cloak was covered with dirt and dried blood, most of which wasn’t her own. Her mother’s face and her final words still fresh in her mind as she moved. She wanted to stop running, to find a place to rest and wake up from the nightmare that had become her life. A loose tree root caught her foot, sending her stumbling to the ground. She groaned as she sat up, rubbing at her side that she had landed on.

“Ow.” She muttered, getting to her feet and brushing herself off. She froze as she heard the voices of the men chasing her getting closer. 

“Find that Plegian bitch! Death was knocking on ‘er door when she set foot on Ylissean soil!” The leader’s voice roared. The girl’s feet began to move again and she headed towards the border of the two countries.  Finally she spotted the familiar outpost that marked the borders, the footsteps of the men behind her getting closer.

“I seek passage to Plegia!” The girl yelled, getting the attention of the guards standing by, both of them weren’t from either country.

“We almost got ‘er! Don’t let ‘er get away!” The man from before shouted.

“Come quickly child! We’ll keep you safe!” The guards yelled to her. The white haired girl glanced behind her as one of the men chasing her lunged towards her, his sword drawn and ready to strike. A scream ripped from her throat.

-

Robin woke with a start, sweat covering her forehead and sticking to her white hair. Her heart raced, her breathing was heavy and her brown eyes wide. She sat up and looked around, taking in the darkness of her room. It was still a few hours before the sun would rise and her duties began. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and pushed herself up, wobbling slightly. The white haired woman sighed as she looked herself over, realizing that she had fallen asleep in her normal clothes for what must have been the billionth time. Shaking her head, Robin grabbed her shoes and her tactician's coat, throwing them on before heading out the door and into the deserted hallway. 

The entire palace was silent and her footsteps echoed around the hall. She flinched slightly, the nightmare that had woken her up still fresh in her mind and she quickened her pace. After several moments the woman found the large wooden doors leading outside and into the city below. Shoving her weight against the door, Robin pushed it open and quietly slipped outside, barely caring if the guards outside saw her leave. Even the city was silent, its residents sleeping off the troubles from the day before. The girl pulled her hood up over her head and clutched her coat tighter to herself as the night breeze gently blew around her. After turning down several streets the white haired woman found the place she was looking for. The old graveyard was located next to the temple of Grima, a place Robin had never set foot in before, unwilling to go even when her parents tried to force her too.

Glaring at the dark walls of the temple, she pushed open the gate of the graveyard, stepping onto the dead grass that no one had bothered to get rid of. The girl made her way to the back row of graves, her eyes falling on the familiar tombs around her. Most of the headstones were small, signaling that the person laid in the grave hadn't been of great importance, at least, to the county of Plegia. Perhaps a baker or a fish peddler was laid there to rest. Robin knew that even the smallest child had a part to play in protecting the place they called home. The larger graves marked that a Plegian noble was buried there. Very few of these were in the graveyard since most of the nobles had requested to be buried on the land that they owned. The white haired woman paid no attention to the larger graves, instead focusing on the tomb in the very back of the graveyard. The headstone was... decent in size and the girl recognized her own handwriting on the stone. Chicken scratch, her sister had always called it.

**Morgana, Queen of Plegia.**

**Beloved Mother and Wife.**

“I'm sorry..." Robin whispered to herself, a single tear rolling down her cheek as she sank to her knees.

"I thought I would find you out here." A voice said behind the girl. Robin jumped and turned around to see another woman with white hair giving her a small smile. 

"Aversa. What are you doing up this early?" She asked, standing up and dusting herself off. Aversa shook her head and gave a sad smile.

"I could ask you the same thing little sister. What troubles you at this hour?" Robin was silent for a while, her eyes fixed on the ground and her teeth digging into the inside of her bottom lip.

"It's nothing." She lied after several moments of silence. Aversa rolled her eyes at her sister.

"Liar. I know you too well, Robin. I can tell when something is bothering you. What is it? Did Tharja spy on you while you were sleeping again?"

"No, nothing like that. I... I dreamed about… that night, when she died."

Aversa's playful smile fell from her lips instantly and her eyes turned to look at the grave that Robin was standing beside. She managed a soft 'oh' that Robin almost missed if she hadn't been watching her sister's reaction.

"Yeah..." Robin muttered.

"Robin, there was nothing you could do! You can't keep blaming yourself for what happened. No one blames-"

"Father wishes it was me in the ground instead of her, doesn't he? You don't have to lie Aversa, I've known for the past five years, ever since I came back. I heard him talking to Mustafa about it. I'm not an idiot either. I see the signs he puts out. He has despised me since the day I was born." Robin cut off her sister, turning her back on the older woman and gazing at the grave in front of her.

"You know that's not true." Aversa growled, her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched. Robin gave a bitter laugh.

“Please. His distaste for me is written on his face whenever I’m in the room. It’s as clear as day.” The younger girl sighed. “But to be fair, I’ve never like him much. I can’t exactly call him father when I barely know him.”

Aversa was silent, her eyes fixed on the eastern border between Plegia and Ylisse. Robin frowned at her sister, wondering what was going on in the older woman’s mind. Was it possible that she…?

“We should get back to the palace.” Aversa’s voice cut into Robin’s thoughts and caused her to jump slightly. Nodding, the young woman followed her sister back towards their home, giving one last glance towards the grave she had visited.

“I wasn’t able to save you, mother.”

-

Emmeryn gave a deep sigh, her eyes half closed as she held the letter in her hands. She hadn’t been able to sleep well that night, waiting for the response from the King of Plegia, Validar, and now that she had his response, she had been studying it for most of the night. Her father had approved of her suggestion of an alliance between Plegia and Ylisse, strengthening their already fragile bond. This alliance, however, wasn’t going to be very easy for either party. Emmeryn sighed again, setting the letter on her desk as she rubbed at her temples.

“A marriage…While I would like to meet the princesses of Plegia, I have a feeling that this won’t go over so well with them or Chrom. It’s going to be rough…” Emmeryn’s eyes slid closed and her gentle snoring filled the room. Dawn had broken when the eldest Princess of Ylisse was awoken by a sharp knock on the door. 

“Lady Emmeryn.” Phila’s voice was heard from the other side of the door and the blonde woman stood up.

“What is it?” She asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“The Exalt has called for you. He asks that you bring the letter that you received from King Validar with you.” Phila said.

“I’ll be right there. Thank you Phila.” Emmeryn called and waited until she heard the woman’s footsteps disappear. “So he knows than. Of course he does. Well, this should be interesting.” She sighed and grabbed the letter off of her desk, making her way towards her father’s study. 

“Emm? Do you know what’s going on?” A voice behind the young woman asked. She turned and noticed Chrom and Lissa making their way towards her, concern written on their faces. She pursed her lips before giving them a kind smile.

“I’m not quite sure but it’s something to do about Ylisse’s relations with Plegia.” She told them. Chrom frowned at her words and Lissa sighed, shaking her head. 

“I hope it’s good news. I don’t think Ylisse could take going to war with Plegia. We may have men, but plegia has the gold and food to pay them.” The blonde muttered. Emmeryn nodded, staring down the long hallways of the Ylissean palace.

“We shouldn’t keep him waiting.” She said after a few moments of silence, leading her siblings down the hall. Emmeryn knocked on the door, waiting for their father to allow them into his study. 

“Enter.” His voice was deep and powerful, the voice of a commander of an army. Lissa flinched slightly at his tone and Chrom glared at the wooden door in front of them as Emmeryn turned the handle. The Exalt sat in his chair behind his large desk, his elbows resting on the desk, his chin resting on his folded hands. The older blonde clutched the letter tighter in her hand as she let her siblings pass her to enter the room.

“You wished to see us, father?” She asked, pretending that she didn’t know what was going on.

“Take a seat you three. We have something to discuss.”

- 

“An arranged marriage?” Robin asked, her face remaining blank as she stared at her father. Validar nodded, looking from Robin to Aversa and back again. 

“That is what I said, yes.” The king sighed. Robin narrowed her eyes slightly.

“I heard you perfectly clear. The thing I don’t understand is why you offered up both of us when Aversa clearly won’t be the one taking part in this plan of yours seeing as how she already killed her husband.” She snapped.

“Hey! I did everyone a favor by killing Gangrel. He wanted to start a war between Ylisse and Plegia.” Aversa shrugged. “And I didn’t like him to begin with.”

“You married him.” Robin muttered and Aversa shrugged a second time.

“Anyway. The point is that we need an alliance with Ylisse. The friendship between the two kingdom’s has been… rough for the past decade but even more so when our queen… passed on Ylissean soil. ” Valdair explained. His eyes looked ready to fall shut like he hadn’t slept well the night before.

“You mean murdered?” Robin offered. Valdair shot a glare at her.

“The two Khans of Ferox will be there to make sure that the marriage goes well. And with any luck, we will gain not only one friend but two.” The king went on.

“So Ferox is coming here as well to act as a sort of peacekeeper?” Aversa asked. “I wasn’t aware of that part of the agreement.”

“At least you were informed of it.” Robin muttered, folding her arms over her chest.

“Now you both know. You don’t have to go through with this if you don’t want, but it would be best if you did.” Their father said, rubbing his temples.

“You sound like we have a choice in the matter even though we don’t. This is for Plegia’s sake. I swore to protect my country. No matter the cost.” Robin added. Aversa nodded in agreement, glancing at her sister with a frown.

“Good. The Ylisseans and the Feroxi will be here in three days. Make sure you don’t mess up when they are here.” Validar added, directing those last few words towards the younger of the two. Robin walked out of her father’s study, not bothering to look back at him as she went. She had a feeling that there was more to what her father’s plan was than what he was telling her about.

- 

“You’re getting married?!” Henry asked, staring at Robin in shock. 

“Possibly. More than likely since Aversa has already been married and the Ylisseans know that.” The princess sighed, her head resting in her hand.

“Why?!” Tharja’s eyes narrowed and she looked ready to hex whoever was threatening to take Robin away from her. The white haired girl rolled her eyes at her.

“It’s to help prevent a war between Plegia and Ylisse since the two countries relationship is so… uneven.” Robin explained. “And the Ylissean’s don’t want their precious prince to marry someone so…” 

“Experienced like Aversa is, and that’s why it will more than likely be you marrying him?” Tharja asked. The princess rolled her eyes and tried to suppress her laughter.   

“That’s a little harsh but yeah, something like that.” 

“So you’re just going to marry someone you don’t even know?! Robin, you’ve given most of your life to the people of Plegia! You cannot be okay with this!” Gaius said, clearly shaken by the news the princess had given them. She sighed and shook her head.

“I’m doing this to protect all of Plegia, which last I checked included you three. My life is not mine to live. It wasn’t since the day I was born. I don’t have a choice in this, I have to do this.” Robin sighed, her eyes fixed on the table the four of them were sitting at. Gaius shook his head and silence fell around them. The two dark mages exchanged looks with each other.

“Robin.” Tharja finally said, her shoulders slumping a bit as she spoke. “You know that we’ve always had your back and we will support you. We’re with you no matter what you do.” Henry nodded, his normal smile returning to his face.

“Really? You’re alright with this than?” The white haired woman asked.

“You sound like we have a choice when we don’t.” Gaius snorted, earning him a sharp kick from Tharja. He grunted in response and she shot a glare at him.

“We’re with ya Robin!” Henry said cheerfully, ignoring the thief’s remark. Robin gave a small smile.

“Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> The next hit from hansonhorses.tumblr.com! Please leave a kudos or comment if you enjoyed.


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